


Recommendations

by Glowbug



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Episode: s04e06 Yverdon-les-Bains, Gen, NOT post-Yverdon, Swiss Air
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1274176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowbug/pseuds/Glowbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martin goes to his Swiss Air interview preceded by three glowing recommendations from his colleagues at MJN. An exploration of what Carolyn, Douglas, and Arthur wrote.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Carolyn

**Author's Note:**

> All episode quotes are taken from Ariane DeVere's incredibly useful transcripts, which may be found [here.](http://www.cabinpressurefans.co.uk/cabin-pressure-episode-transcripts)

_You’re a berk, Martin._

_I’m not a berk, Carolyn; I’m an airline captain!_

When she first hired Martin, his lack of salary seemed like a smart tactical decision—one borne out in short order by expensive diversions to Bristol, bumpy landings, an even-snarkier-than-usual first officer and, once, suspiciously convenient “smoke in the flight deck.” (She’s always suspected Douglas had a hand in that last one, but Martin wore a guilty expression for a week so clearly he was involved too.)

Still, whether through experience or Douglas’s influence or simple determination, Martin has improved.

_Sometimes, for a treat, I have a baked potato!_

Carolyn’s ability to pay him has not. Quite the opposite, in fact. She closes the account book with a sigh, even though it’s shown her the same hard truth every night for the last week: MJN’s budget is strained to the limit. She cannot pay two pilots. She’s barely managing to pay one.

_I don’t want to lose you but you really ought to be looking for other jobs! I assumed you were!_

And he’s taken her advice, hasn’t he? It is business: either she pays him what he is worth or he goes to a place that can. MJN’s future, despite what he seems to think, is not his concern.

She picks up the half-finished recommendation form from Swiss Air.

_Martin Crieff,_ she writes, _is the most diligent and safety-conscious pilot I have ever had the pleasure to employ. He makes it his mission to prepare for even the most unlikely situations._ Of course, with Arthur and Douglas aboard, the unlikely becomes far less unlikely. _His attention to detail is unparalleled,_ she continues. _I cannot recommend him more highly._

She has only one regret about employing him: that she will never be able to sign his paycheck.

_Captain Crieff has proven to be an invaluable part of MJN. He will be sorely missed._

 


	2. Douglas

It takes Douglas a walk around the block and three hours of piano playing before he can start on the recommendation form.

_Martin, you’re not seriously asking me to call you ‘sir’._

_Yes I am. Why’s that so hard to believe?_

Because he’d deserved even less respect as a captain than as a pilot, back then.

_Oh, I’m not denying a right old meal was made of it, but I was not the chef du jour._

How things have changed.

_Martin, do you want me to land it?_

_No. I’ll do it._

_Okay._

Douglas knew after St. Petersburg that this day would come. Martin, against all odds, has made himself into a worthy airline pilot and even (not that Douglas will ever admit it) a respectable captain. He’s still hopeless at word games, naturally, but Swiss Air is hardly going to notice if their pilots can’t rhyme cities or remember the names of all seven dwarves.

He wonders if Martin will be as bored without the flight deck games as he would be.

Probably not. He’d spend the time reciting the operations manual to himself, or something.

That’s for the best, really. Douglas torpedoed his own career years ago out of boredom; not intentionally, of course, but he took chances and bent rules in ways that Martin (even after years at MJN) would never consider. To be fair, he still does.

Martin, though, deserves a job with a proper paycheck and a future attached to it. Swiss Air would be lucky to have him, prissy though he may be. It falls partly on Douglas to make sure they know it.

_I thought you said that was too intimidating a ring to throw my hat into._

_Did I? Well, I was forgetting, of course, just how intimidating your hat is._

The form is still sitting on his kitchen table, untouched. He pours himself a large glass of apple juice and picks up the pen with a sigh. It’s nights like this that he misses drinking.

_In the time I have known him, Martin Crieff has grown enormously as a pilot._ Careful. There’s always the chance someone will actually _show_ Martin this recommendation. _Myself apart, there is no one at MJN whose abilities as a pilot I rate higher._ Better.

An hour later, the form nearly filled with carefully chosen words, he sets the pen down and refills his juice glass. After much consideration, he adds one more sentence, banking on the likelihood that Martin will never read it.

_It has been my privilege to call him my captain._

 


	3. Arthur

Dirk the groundsman once taught Arthur how to roll a pencil between all his fingers. It was brilliant. Arthur does that now, as he stares at the questionnaire Mum gave him to fill out for Skip.

_Please rate the candidate on each of the following criteria:_

The boxes say “poor,” “adequate,” “fair,” “good,” and “very good.” None of those seem good enough to describe Skip.

_Leadership. Communication. Attentiveness to safety._

He’s seen Mum staying up late with the account books; he’s not stupid. She can’t pay Skip any money; so if Skip gets this job with these Swiss Air chaps, he’ll go to Switzerland. If Skip leaves, Arthur might never see him again, and pretty soon there might not be any more MJN.

Arthur’s not sure what to think about that.

_Arthur? Can you step into the flight deck? Er, we were just thinking, how would you like to have a Christmas celebration onboard GERTI?_

Oh, Arthur will be all right; he always is, somehow. He could carry people’s luggage at a fancy hotel, maybe, the kind of hotel Mum can never afford to book them.

_Don’t get too attached to it. The Garibaldi is pretty different. Though, to be fair, it does also have water running down the walls._

Mum would be all right, for sure. Arthur thinks she might go to Switzerland herself, if Herc can make her think it was her idea. And Herc’s brilliant. Mum always smiles a little more after she’s seen him. She just doesn’t want to admit it.

He’s not sure about Douglas… but Douglas is _Douglas._ He’d come up with something clever and be just fine too, wouldn’t he?

_If it helps, you are excellent at_ being _teased. Second only to Martin. He’s the master._

Yes, everything would be all right. Arthur would just miss GERTI, and Douglas, and Skip. Wanting Skip to stay because of that, well, that’s just selfish.

Arthur starts drawing in extra boxes on the form, ticking them off as he goes. He labels each one carefully: “Brilliant.”

Because Skip is.

 


	4. Martin

“So, look, Martin – just between ourselves, what we’d kind of like to know is: how did you cheat?”

Martin knew he was flubbing his interview before the Swiss Air CEO ever walked into the room, but the realization that _it wasn’t even a genuine interview_ stings like hell. Of course he defends himself (and to his surprise, succeeds), but when he gets back to MJN they’ll want to know everything. What are they going to say?

In the space of a heartbeat he finds he already knows.

_Berks, both of them,_ Carolyn snaps in his head.

_But Oskar’s the head of the company! And Captain Elise—she’s got to be a better pilot than I am!_

_Still berks. Keep that ridiculous excuse for a CEO in the room, Martin._

“I-I’d like you to stay,” he says to the man. Oskar starts to make some silly excuse about how busy he is.

_Hey, Chief,_ Douglas drawls—sarcastic even in imaginary form. _I might be wrong, but I think: that fellow’s lying to you. This makes me feel: like you’re being cheated! One thing you could do is: call his bluff and get yourself a fair chance at this job. How does that sound to you?_

Call his bluff? And… Martin’s interviewing horribly. He knows that! He wants the job, of course he does, but does he _deserve_ a fair shot at it?

_Of course you do, Skip,_ Arthur whispers. _You’re brilliant!_

So Martin looks the CEO of Swiss Air in the eye, does his best to channel Carolyn and Douglas for authority, and all but demands the man stay for the rest of the interview.

When Oskar calls his secretary for muffins, Martin knows he’s at least won something. He probably won’t get the job, but he’ll have a good story to tell MJN.

Which isn’t so bad, really. Swiss Air is a job. There’ll be other jobs. MJN…

_Good luck, Skip! I hope you get the job! But I also hope you stay with us! So overall, I hope, er … I don’t know what I hope!_

MJN is his family.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


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